Totally socked-in day with rain off and on. Trail distances seemed off. First 2.5 miles were about 40 minutes total, but the last 2 miles took about 90 minutes. I think the final 2miles were closer to 3.5 miles but I didn't have a pedometer to back up my claim. Felt much longer than advertised and felt like the trail wrapped entirely around the mountain. Probably had something to do with weather conditions. Lowest part of the trail was definitely the most scenic.

Got a late start, bout noon. It stayed fairly warm the whole time, even when the afternoon showers rolled in. After that, fog enveloped the whole range, with visibility of only a few feet, but it came and went over the rest of the trip. Several stops to catch our breath later, we made it to the top. Not the best view, but the feeling of accomplishment is still there and the surrounding forest feels very unique. A lot of fog rolled in on the way down and we were losing sunlight fast, so we didn't have a lot of time to enjoy the trek back in.

Beautiful hike - being from Utah I was surprised at how lush and mossy the Mt. Rogers Spur trail was. Saw lots of ponies on the way down. Probably one of my SE favorite highpoints. Families galore enjoying the great weather and beautiful views but it looked like some significant thunderstorms were going to hit later in the day so was glad to make it up and down quickly.

I'd done the Grayson Highlands approach before, so this time I came over on the AT from Elk Garden. It wasn't quite as scenic--this route spent a lot more time in the woods--but still a nice hike, with enough open sections to give you that Fellowship-of-the-Rings-crossing-Rohan feeling. I even saw a few ponies on the descent. Spent the night at a campsite behind the trailhead parking lot... and discovered that early May is still winter at 4450'. Brr!

What a great trip...Had bike company drop us off and hiked to top of Mount Rogers enjoying the ponies and rhododendron along the way, refilled water at a spring at the top, after summit we setup camp. Next day we hiked out from a different area, met the bike company to pick us up with bikes. They took our gear down to town and we biked the old rail path all the way down the mountain. Picked up our stuff, took to the hostel, then went to a local brewery to celebrate!

This was one of my favorite hikes! Between the almost two dozen ponies scattered along the trail, the wide open vistas over the mountains, and the isolation besides countless meadowlarks and towhees, this was pretty much everything I could have asked for. State HP #35

Went here once before, but got here a little late to attempt the hike, knowing that it would be very dark before I would make it out, so decided to try again later.

Later was in August of 2014… A fantastic hike on a very hot day… lots of ponies to be seen, including one that was only 6 hours old. Had to dodge some surly longhorn cattle, too. But made it to the summit (unremarkable) and then enjoyed a pretty quick hike back out. #19…

Hiked this in early March, from Massie Gap. High wind speed had the initial first hour or so a bit rough, but overall amazing weather. There were still snow and a lot of ice in shaded areas along the trail. Getting to see the wild ponies is a beautiful sight, and they are friendly, but do not feed them! The best part of this nicely featured trail was the spruce fir forest at the summit, a nice treat for the area. No views at the summit, overall a great easy hike.

This is the sixth state highpoint in the East, after doing NC, TN, SC, GA and KY in the last four days. This one is by far the best of those. It has great views and interesting outcroppings to keep things interesting. The weather was also better than on the previous ascent of this trip, cloudy and cool.

Started from Grayson State Park, hiked the Rhododendron Trail up to the AT and hiked from there. 550 m elevation gain and 15.3 km. 4 hours 30 minutes car to car at easy pace with a few breaks.